United We Stand
by TracyJean
Summary: When Rumple tells Belle that he is leaving for the Underworld with the rest of their family in order to rescue Hook, he finds that he is unable to go without telling her the whole truth. When he does, her reaction just may surprise him. An extension of the Rumbelle scene from episode 5x12, "Souls of the Departed."
**Author's notes** _ **-** Those of you who read my author's notes on chapter 8 of "Healing Hearts" will remember that I said I would have a surprise for all of you. Well, here it is. This story was inspired by the short little Rumbelle scene in the 100_ _th_ _episode, "Souls of the Departed," and expands on that scene to show what I think should have happened if Rumbelle had been granted more than 24 seconds to shine in this episode._

* * *

Belle stood in front of her husband, her arms crossed over her chest. It had not even been twelve hours since she had raced into the shop and back into his arms and now he was telling her that he was leaving – leaving for the very place he had lied about in order to protect her from possibly being marked for exchange by one of the Dark Ones.

She now recognized how terrified he had been when he had handed her the car keys and had encouraged her to go see the world. She realized that he had been trying desperately to keep his voice from trembling as he had tried to assured her that everything was fine. It hadn't been – she knew that now, thanks to the broad strokes of the story that Henry had given her when he had called in the wee hours of the morning, convincing her that she needed to come home, that Rumple needed her.

Rumple had barely spoken about it after his resurrection, but she knew that he had been in the Underworld after he had killed himself to stop Pan. He had tried to dismiss it as nothing, no big deal after his resurrection, but it obviously had been. If only she could have seen that before, had recognized his state of mind before everything that had happened. She had always been able to read him so well, until suddenly she stopped and it had cost them both dearly. How had things changed so drastically? How had she gone from seeing everything so clearly to not seeing at all? He was her husband – more importantly, he was her True Love. They were two halves of a whole. They should know each other better than anyone, but they both had lost sight of that somewhere along the way.

Shaking her head, she tried to push those thoughts from her mind. They had plenty of time to work through all of that, for the necessary apologies from both sides. They had all the time in the world now, but first, they had to deal with the fact that he was leaving mere hours after their reunion when all she wanted to do was to drag him back to their house and continue getting reacquainted with him, both in and out of their bed.

Of course, they didn't necessarily need to go home to continue their reconciliation. There were a lot of memories tied to this room, to the bed just a few feet away. Maybe it was time to make some new memories in this room in order to banish the ones of the day she had found the gauntlet and realized the truth he had been so desperate to hide from her, of the over six weeks he had spent unconscious on that bed, when she had been terrified that he was going to die with everything unresolved between them, that the book on their marriage would end with their estrangement, rather than their happily ever after.

"The Underworld?" she asked in disbelief.

"I'll only be gone for a day," he said in what she knew was supposed to be a comforting tone, as if she could find any comfort in the idea of a trip to the Underworld. She had read enough to know that it was one of the last places that a deceased soul wanted to be, let alone a living one. "Just long enough to retrieve Hook."

"I don't understand," she countered. She wanted to know. She wanted him to tell her everything, come what may. It was easier to resolve to stand by him when she knew exactly what she was standing with him against. "Why you?"

"Because, Belle," he explained, strolling towards her, holding out his hands for her to take, "I'm the only one who's been there. Plus, my blood can summon the ferry." His lips quirked upwards in a slight smile, but she could tell that there was a bit of hesitation behind the expression, that he wasn't quite as confident as his words attempted to convey.

Disregarding his outstretched hands, Belle closed the distance between them, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips. Rising up on her toes, she pressed a soft kiss to his lips, inwardly sighing in satisfaction at the feeling of his warm lips against hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers automatically starting to lightly play with his hair. She had missed this so much, kissing him, touching him, the way their bodies fit together against each other, as if they were two pieces of a puzzle which were meant to connect together. Finally, she was able to admit both to herself and to him how much she had missed him, missed this.

She pulled back slightly, her eyes meeting his. "Just come back to me," she said, injecting every bit of the renewed hope she felt for him and their marriage into her tone. She willed him to hear her belief, to feel it and allow it to seep into him, to bolster him. She wanted to be his strength again, for them to be strong for each other.

"I always do," Rumple promised. His smile grew more heartfelt, less hesitant. He was right. He always did come back to her, just as she did to him. It wasn't always easy – True Love wasn't supposed to be, he always said - and there had often been what had seemed to be insurmountable obstacles in their way, but they somehow always found a way. She trusted with everything in her that they would find that way this time as well.

With reluctance, she let her hands slip from his hair as she took a step back. He had to go if the group were to go to the Underworld this night. He had explained it to her earlier - over a belated breakfast in bed after his brief meeting with Emma - when filling in the details that Henry had not already shared about the previous night's aborted trip, that the ferry was supposed to be called when the moon was at its zenith.

With a quiet sigh, Rumple took her hands, squeezing them briefly. He turned slightly, his hands starting to slip from hers. Before she could wonder at the indecision suddenly clouding his features, the hesitancy driving his actions, he turned back, releasing her hands so he could wrap his arms around her, yanking her tightly against him.

"Oh, Belle," he whispered, his voice cracking. She draped her arms around his waist, fingers lightly stroking the tense muscles of his back through his suit jacket. "I can't do this."

She found herself suddenly blinking back tears. Instinctively, she knew there was something more beneath the surface of his apparently abrupt reluctance to leave. "It's okay, Rumple," she tried to encourage him in a gentle tone. "Just tell me."

"I – I – I …" He buried his face in her hair as her hands slid down and under his jacket. She could feel him tremble as she tightened her embrace, pressing her hands flat against his back.

"You can't what?" she asked quietly. When he didn't reply, she tried to puzzle out the real reason for his fear. "Go to the Underworld? That's certainly understandable if it is as bad as I've read. I can't hold that against you, especially since you have firsthand knowledge of the realm. You already know what you will be facing down there. But if the others are still determined to go, how will they get there without your blood?"

Rumple shook his head against her neck. "No," he whispered brokenly. He pulled back in her arms, tears glistening in his eyes. "It's not…."

"Please, Rumple," Belle said. "I promise - you can tell me whatever this is. It's okay to be afraid. That doesn't mean you aren't being brave."

He stepped back, his gaze cast downward as his arms fell to his sides. "They still need my blood to open the portal," he said quietly. Unconsciously, he rubbed the thumb and first two fingers of his right hand against each other as he turned away. "I'm so sorry, Belle. You were gone. My son is dead. My grandson was going to be devastated. I couldn't see the point, not anymore. If I'd known…"

"Rumple?" she asked cautiously, fear creeping into her thoughts. He was terrified and it apparently had little, if nothing to do with the Underworld. There was something else that he was afraid to tell her, that was obvious. While she knew well enough about the fear he always tried so hard to hide, he found it hard, even with her, the person to whom he was closest, to let go enough to express that fear so nakedly. Only once before, at the town line… What could possibly be that bad? There was no way anything could be worse than the fears he'd expressed that night, the fears that she had so blithely ignored in her blinding rage.

Without another word, Rumple headed to the front of the shop, Belle following a few steps behind. She wanted to race to him, to wrap her arms around him and to assure him that it would be okay, that she was with him no matter what. As he went behind the back counter and bent down to retrieve something, she nervously wiped her suddenly sweaty palms against her coat.

She worried her lower lip between her teeth as he pulled out a long object in a cloth wrapping and set it on the counter in front of him. Pushing back the terror that threatened to swamp her, she stepped up next to him, her eyes firmly fixed on his hands as he pulled an all-too-familiar yet at the same time new object from the cloth and set it down in front of them, the silver inscription glistening in the dim light.

After a long moment, Rumple began to explain, his voice so soft that Belle had to strain to hear his words, even standing next to him. "Emma planned to take all the darkness onto herself, and then Regina was going to kill her to get rid of it for good," he said. "That's what they told me when they requested Excalibur. It all sounded so matter-of-fact, so easy. I tried to warn them that it could never be as easy as they were suggesting. And did either of them even stop to think about what it would do to Henry…?"

Belle reached out uncertainly, then let her hand fall to the glass counter. She knew what he was trying to tell her – it was so obvious now, the evidence right there in black and silver in front of them. Despite her first instinct to cover her ears with her hands, to turn and flee from the truth that he was telling her, she forced herself not to move. Just a moment earlier, she had promised that he could tell her what was wrong. She would not break that promise now, no matter how much her heart broke anew in the process.

"How was my grandson supposed to feel if one of his mothers killed the other," he continued brokenly, a harsh edge creeping into his tone, "no matter how noble their reasoning seemed to be? I – I used a potion on the sword, arranged for the darkness to be channeled back…I knew I could handle it, certainly far better than the _good_ Captain and love-struck Savior had. Then Regina wouldn't have to kill Emma and – and my grandson would not be left to live with the consequences of their actions. With my cleansed heart, who knows how long I'd have – perhaps centuries again – before the darkness takes over again. Emma knows, that's why…I told her I had wanted it back, but that wasn't…"

As his voice trailed off, Belle reached out again without hesitation, this time clasping his hand in hers, her fingers curling around his. "When I showed up this morning," she said slowly, blinking back her own tears as realization dawned, "you were drinking. Judging from the bottle on the table, you had been for a while. Your demeanor wasn't that of a man celebrating having his power back or one happy to have been reprieved from being consigned to the Underworld again."

Reaching up with her free hand, she pressed it against his cheek, gently coaxing him to turn to her. "You were mourning," she concluded sadly. "You thought the darkness was all you had left."

Rumple nodded, his eyes downcast, fixed on the dagger. "Yes," he admitted. "Emma heard the dagger calling to her and, once she knew the truth, guessed that I had not told you I was the Dark One again…That was the text I got this morning when I left while you were still sleep. She wanted me to meet her here at the shop and…"

Belle's expression hardened and she unconsciously tightened her fingers around his. "She blackmailed you," she said with a shocked gasp. "She's trying to _force_ you to open the portal to the Underworld."

"Yes."

"What is her excuse this time?" Belle demanded in a strident tone. Rumple lifted his head, his eyes wide at the vehemence in her tone. "She's not the Dark One anymore, so she can't use the darkness to try to explain away her actions, nor can the others. When you were missing, when _Emma_ had kidnapped you, I went to them for help, but none of them cared. You'd had too many chances, they told me, but everything that she was doing was only because of the darkness. _It wasn't her fault,_ they said.

"So how does she justify using me against you this time? It was the darkness' fault that she sent Merida to kill me, all so she could turn you into someone who could safely pull Excalibur from the stone. So whose fault is it this time? If it weren't for her, none of us would be in this position now because Hook would never have become the Dark One and he wouldn't have tried to bring all the Dark Ones to Storybrooke. Why should they get off scot free when you're the one who spent over 300 years fighting against the darkness, trying not to let it consume you? You ended the First Ogres War and saved the lives of thousands of unwilling child warriors. What good did either Emma or Hook ever try to do as the Dark One?"

She shook in rage, and Rumple started to reach out to her with his left hand before letting it drop. Finally, he lifted his eyes to meet hers, his expression uncertain. "Belle…"

"I have always been there," she continued angrily, "any time they asked for my help, convincing you to help them, even when you didn't want to. When have they ever thanked us for everything we've done for them? I banished you – my True Love – because I thought it was best to protect everyone and this is how they repay me, by using me to force you to do their will? Are we just tools to them, to be used as they see fit and shoved off to the side the rest of the time?"

"Belle, I'm sorry," he said, starting to pull his hand from hers. She tightened her fingers around his, refusing to let go. She would not let him go – not this time.

"You don't owe me an apology," she said insistently, suddenly throwing herself against him, wrapping her free arm around his waist as she buried her face against his shoulder. "Not for this. _They don't care_. We're supposed to be family through Henry, but if we were…if Emma really was so worried about me because you're the Dark One again, she would have come and told me. But that wasn't convenient for her, was it? If I knew, she couldn't use me to force you to help her rescue Hook."

Rumple wrapped his arm around her. "I do owe you an apology," he insisted. "I wanted to tell you…as soon as I heard you call my name when you came back this morning, I knew that I had to tell you, but…"

Belle lifted her head, her eyes locking on his, seeing the truth reflected in his dark eyes. "You wanted to tell me," she stated with a hesitant chuckle, "but I sidetracked you pretty well, didn't I?"

"I was weak and afraid," he admitted with a watery half-smile. "Suddenly, I had in my arms the thing I'd thought I'd lost forever and for just a little bit, I wanted another taste…just one more…before it all slipped away…before I forced you away again."

Pulling her hand from his, she reached up and brushed away the tears beginning to fall from his eyes. "It doesn't matter," she whispered softly. "You told me the truth. Maybe you should have done so this morning, but I didn't give you much chance, did I?"

Amazement slowly crept into his expression as she lightly stroked his cheek with the backs of her fingers. Pressing herself against him, she stood up on tip toes and pressed her lips against his, her tongue darting out to trace the seam of his lips. With a soft moan, he parted his lips beneath hers, his hand sliding up her back to tangle in her hand, holding her against him.

He let her control the kiss, taking only what she was willing to give. A surge of desire coursed through her as her tongue slowly explored the recesses of his mouth before she pulled away slightly to nibble on his lower lip in the way she knew drove him crazy with want.

Finally, she broke off the kiss, gracing him with a warm, languid smile. "Now, I'm going to make you a promise," she vowed. "This was not just one last taste. It will not slip away again. We won't let it, not this time. I meant it when I told you this morning that I wanted to be with you." She gestured towards the dagger. " _This_ doesn't change that."

"Oh, Belle…" he began, his voice full of wonder, before she silenced him with another kiss, her hands slipping between them to play with the top button of his jacket. She wanted nothing more than to pull him into the back room and continue what they'd started that morning, but she knew she couldn't, not at that time. He had to leave soon if he was still planning to go to the Underworld with the others. She was very tempted in a way she never had been before to have him tell the others to find their own way, but she couldn't quite bring herself to go that far yet.

"Once, I told Bae that I loved all of you," she said after pulling back from their kiss once again, "even the parts that belong to the darkness, but I've never done a good job of proving that to you since you kicked me out in the Enchanted Forest. I was on my way back to you when Regina captured me and ever since, it seems that we've been caught in this vicious cycle.

"Every time you do something I don't like, I walk away or throw you over the town line, often without giving you the chance to explain. If I expect you to learn from your mistakes, the least I can do is to show you that I've learned from mine. I _will not_ leave you, Rumplestiltskin, not this time. I am still your wife and, after all, I _did_ promise you forever on the day we met – we promised each other."

"Belle," Rumple said, shaking his head, his voice cracking, "I – I don't deserve this."

She took his hands in hers, squeezing them gently. "Does anybody, really?" she wondered. "Somehow, we have been granted this great gift of 'the most powerful magic in all the realms' and we need to fight for it, not keep walking away or giving up on us because neither of us are perfect human beings. Haven't you told me before that True Love is made even more powerful when we fight for it?"

"Yes," he replied, his voice trembling slightly as he nodded, "yes, it is."

"Then make me a promise," she requested. "Whether you're the Dark One or not, are you willing to continue fighting _with_ me for our True Love? When Regina captured me, I swore to her that I would always fight for you, and I make that same promise to you now. Will you do the same?"

"I promise," Rumple vowed, his love for her shining bright in his eyes. "Oh, Belle, I promise."

Pulling a hand from his, she reached into her coat pocked for something, holding it out to him. Rumple's eyes darted from the diamond and platinum band shining from the palm of her upturned hand to her eyes, shock and uncertainty warring with hope in his tear-filled gaze.

"Why don't you put that back where it belongs?" she suggested with a brilliant smile. "I want everyone to know that you and I are one, that we stand united."

"Are you sure?" Rumple asked, unable to hide the tremor in his voice.

"Absolutely," she replied.

With a trembling hand, he took the ring from her and, lifting her left hand between them, slid the ring back onto the finger where it had shone as a promise of their wedding vows for so short a time. With a soft smile, he lifted her hand to his lips, brushing them over the ring.

"I love you, Rumplestiltskin," she promised, "forever."

"And I love you, Belle," he promised in return, "forever."

With a sad sigh, she pressed herself against him again, resting her head once again on his shoulder. "As for the rest of our _so-called_ family," she said, a hint of bitterness creeping into her tone, "I think that they need to be aware that they will find you – us – a lot less helpful in the future if this attitude of theirs continued. I refuse to be seen a simply a pawn to be used as they see fit to force you to do their bidding. What kind of hero does that? Is Emma entitled to try to threaten our happy ending just so she can have hers?" She snickered. "I'm really beginning to understand now the true value of making deals and not just because 'all magic comes with a price'."

"You know," he pointed out with a chuckle, "they'll say I've corrupted you."

"Then I will just have to point out to them that _no one_ decides my fate but me," she insisted. They both smiled at the memory those words invoked, of the first meeting between a cackling imp and a sheltered princess so long ago. "Not you and certainly _not_ them. I came back to you because I chose to. Henry just reminded me of what I already knew, of how much I still love you, will always love you. I choose to remain with you now, in spite of the Dark One, because of that love. I choose not to let them use me as a pawn anymore because they need you to do something and they know you wouldn't agree otherwise."

"Do you think I should open the portal," he asked, "go with them?"

"It's your choice," she said with a shrug. "There is a part of me that is very tempted to suggest you tell them 'no,' but on the other hand…can they do this without you?"

"Realistically?" he replied, his lips quirking upwards. "I doubt it, but I think I need to go, regardless."

"Have you seen something?" she asked.

"Yes. It's not completely clear yet," he said, "but I think they're taking my grandson with them. I need to be there for him."

"What?" she asked in disbelief. "Have they lost their minds?"

He shrugged. "Apparently. Just 24 hours ago, Emma was angry because my description of what we would face in the Underworld was scaring Henry and now it seems she and Regina are going to let him come along on this ill-planned expedition. I'm sure he wants to go now, or at least he thinks he does," he concluded in a sad tone.

"Because of Bae," she said, realizing the direction of his thoughts. It was the same reason that she suspected he was not immediately jumping at the opportunity to reject Emma's attempted blackmail and to refuse to help them. "Could he be down there?"

"I don't know," he admitted reluctantly. "It's possible. Souls that are trapped in the Underworld are there because they have unfinished business. Bae never got to say goodbye to his son. He died believing that his son didn't even know who he was. If he is there, if he and Henry could have that chance to say goodbye…"

"Maybe he could then move on to a better place," she concluded. "I think it's clear then, what you have to do. Just promise me again that you'll come back to me."

"I always do," he repeated.

They leaned together, resting their foreheads against each other. They were united. They would face whatever came the way they should have from the beginning – together.


End file.
